Journey to the West synopsis:

There was a naughty monkey in Huaguo Mountain in the Aolai Kingdom of Dongsheng Shenzhou. He worshiped Subhuti as his teacher and learned the seventy-two transformations. After that, he took over the mountain and became the king. Calls himself the Monkey King.

The Jade Emperor sent Taishang Laojun to subdue the Great Sage. Unexpectedly, the monkey refused to be restrained and made a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace. He was imprisoned in an alchemy furnace for forty-nine days and developed piercing eyes. He kicked over the alchemy furnace once. Uncontrollable, he was suppressed by Tathagata at the foot of Wuzhi Mountain.

Five hundred years have passed. A monk came from the Tang Dynasty in the east. He was the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi. Guanshiyin chose him to go to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures and save all living beings. He rescued the Great Sage by passing through Wuzhishan Mountain, and collected many treasures along the way. Bajie, Sha Seng, the four masters and disciples conquered demons and embarked on a long journey to learn scriptures. In the end, after ninety-nine and eighty-one difficulties, he obtained the true scripture and achieved the true result.

About the author:

Wu Chengen (about 1500-1582), also known as Sheyangshan. A native of Shanyang County, Huai'an Prefecture. His ancestral home is Gaodian, Tongcheng, Anhui. His ancestors lived in Gaodian, Tongcheng, so he was called the Wu family in Gaodian. An outstanding novelist of the Ming Dynasty in China. He was smart and well-read since he was a child, especially fairy tales.

After repeated setbacks in the imperial examination, he was admitted as a tribute student in Jiajing. In the 45th year of Jiajing reign (1566), he was appointed as the magistrate of Changxing County, Zhejiang Province. Due to difficulties in his official career, he decided not to pursue an official career in his later years and wrote books behind closed doors.

Extended information:

Appreciation of works:

The content of "Journey to the West" is the most complex among Chinese classical novels. It integrates the thoughts and contents of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.

It not only allows the immortals of Buddhism and Taoism to perform on the stage at the same time, but also injects the human emotions of real society into the world of gods and Buddhas, and sometimes inserts a few Confucian wise sayings to make it appear both solemn and harmonious. , full of wit and wit, the book has won the love of readers of all cultural levels.

The author of "Journey to the West" lived in the middle and late Ming Dynasty and went through five periods: Xiaozong Hongzhi, Mu Zonglongqing, and Shenzong Wanli. The social situation in the middle and late Ming Dynasty was very different from that at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Political class contradictions, ethnic contradictions and internal contradictions within the ruling class were constantly intensifying.

Ideologically and culturally, with the rise of Enlightenment ideas and the rise of thoughts on the liberation of human nature, citizen literature has been developing increasingly vigorously. The creation of novels and dramas has entered a period of comprehensive prosperity, and economically, the germination of capitalism has emerged.

Reference materials:

Baidu Encyclopedia--Journey to the West